The Personal Story Behind Sparkle

People often ask me how I came up with the idea for Sparkle, so I thought I’d take a moment to share the very personal story behind this truly life changing card deck…

Warning: If you read on, prepare yourself to see a very different version of Cara… and it ain’t pretty! 🙈

Picture the scene:  It’s July 2017 and I’m as low and depressed as I thought possible.  There’s nothing like a 40th birthday milestone to make you stop and reevaluate your life. 

Unfortunately, upon review, I found my life was seriously lacking and not living up to any of my expectations.  I was seriously off plan.

Let me share the highlights (or should I say lowlights) with you! 😖

🌧️ I was single, childless, lonely and very depressed

🌧️ I had been diagnosed with the BRCA1 ‘cancer gene’ and had crippling endometriosis

🌧️ I regularly drowned my sorrows in copious amounts of alcohol and cigarettes

🌧️ I was unhealthy, sedentary, carrying a couple of extra stone and my skin was a mess

🌧️ I lived in a cold and ancient, damp-ridden house

🌧️ I had no purpose, passions, hobbies or interests – Netflix and parties were my life

🌧️ I had no plan for the future

🌧️ I had no confidence and plenty of Imposter Syndrome

🌧️ I worried about everything, was the Prophet of Doom and my default response was ‘no’

🌧️ I was terrified of confrontation and a huge people pleaser

🌧️ I was lost and hopeless.

🌧️ All in all, I hated myself

I like to call this tragic state of affairs my ‘rock bottom’… and truly, it was! 💔

Well, thankfully there was a turning point (or this would have made for a really depressing story). 😂

After months of wallowing, crying, falling down drunk (they don’t call me the Pinball Wizard for nothing) and calling myself all the losers of the day… I finally stumbled into the world of personal development! 

Praise be! 🙌🏻

Before then, I really knew nothing about mindset and wellbeing work.  I’d always assumed it was just hippy nonsense and all a bit cringe.  But now, given my current state, I decided I didn’t have anything to lose by taking a closer look. 👀

And so, the process of self-help began. I threw myself into learning all I could about how to change your life: from the scientific to the spiritual, the ancient to the modern – I explored it all!

I read tonnes of books, completed numerous courses, listened to countless podcasts and generally soaked up all the guidance I could from thought leaders around the world. 🤓

But the most important thing I did was – I took action.

Bit by bit, I applied the learnings from my newfound education and did the work!

I took baby steps and slowly but surely, I started to make changes.  Some small, some bigger… each one playing their part in digging me out of the hole I found myself in.

I reflected and examined all the misplaced beliefs I had about myself, my experiences and my life.  I learnt to see everything from a different perspective and not the one with the ‘poor me’, victim mentality that I was accustomed.

I realised that my worth wasn’t dependent on what I had achieved or whether I had conformed to the expected path of having the perfect nuclear family, nice home and white picket fence. 🏡

I was worthy and deserving just for being me.

I realised I was perfectly capable of taking back my power and designing a life that I truly loved.

My language changed. I started to talk about myself in an empowered way.  Even the voice in my head had a personality transplant and started to say nice things too.

It didn’t take long for me to burst out of my depression, feeling like a completely new human.  For the first time in my life, I was ridiculously happy and excited to see what the future had in store for me.

I was determined things were going to be very different.  Armed with my new positive habits and mindset, I had all the self-belief, self-esteem and self-worth I needed to make it happen. 🌟

Over a period of 7 years my life became unrecognisable.  I experienced and achieved things that the pre-forty version of me would never have even dared to dream of. 

So let me now give you some of the highlight reel:

☀️ I found my purpose and passion and get to live a life where I’m fulfilled and happy

☀️ I took the empowered decision of having major surgery to reduce my risk of cancer and get rid of endometriosis once and for all!  And I healed.

☀️ I got fit and healthy, shed the extra two stone weight and my skin cleared up

☀️ I ditched my lifelong crutches of cigarettes and alcohol (and will be celebrating my one-year booze free anniversary tomorrow)

☀️ I moved into a beautiful new home, close to the beach in an area I love

☀️ I welcomed Coco, my wee dog, trusted side kick and companion into my home

☀️ I trained and got certified in NLP and coaching

☀️ I left my job and created my own successful business where I get to empower people to reach their potential too

☀️ I got out of my comfort zone and started saying ‘yes’ to things.  I’ve now pitched my business and got first prize, been on podcasts, delivered keynote talks and workshops, and shared my story.

☀️ I got out there, expanded my network and connected with so many incredible and inspiring people that I can now call friends.

☀️ I became a published author sharing my story in a chapter of “Unstoppable Stories”

☀️ And most recently, I created my beautiful new product – ‘Sparkle’!

Which leads me nicely to the whole point of this little story…

It was through this firsthand experience of learning to believe in myself that made me realise just how powerful all the little lessons, practices and habits I had learnt were.

I realised when I was working with my lovely clients to build their self-belief, there was so much more I wanted to share, and simply not enough time to do it.

I knew I needed to find a way to distil all the knowledge I had accumulated into a simplistic, inspiring and easy-to-implement format that doesn’t overwhelm them yet empowers them to make a change.

And so, Sparkle was born.  ✨

What better way to help people grow in confidence, change their lives and reach their own potential, than a beautifully designed card deck, delivering inspiring and uplifting actions that they can apply every day and reap the rewards?!

This was the answer! 🙌🏻

Just like in my own life, I knew that it if people could build a daily habit of applying these simple practices, that the transformative effects would soon be visible in their own life, mindset and experiences too.

And so, brimming with excitement, I got to work on making it a reality!

Thankfully, everything fell into place and I got to work with my incredibly fabulous and creative sister Hannah Mac (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-mac-designer/ ) and the equally wonderful and talented Eva Merendez (https://www.instagram.com/eva_merendesart/ ), who were able to use their genius to bring my vision to life and produce the most gorgeous brand and imagery for Sparkle.  😍

Everything came together like magic!

And now I get to share my beautiful cards and accompanying journal with the world to help people trust themselves and take back control, so they too can live life to the full! 🤩

So, if you are feeling stuck, low, overwhelmed or simply in need of a boost, or if any part of my story resonates, then why not check out Sparkle for yourself: https://www.stellarimpact.co.uk/sparkle

Commit to the process and start changing your life today.

That’s what I did!💫

As always, if you need support with getting out of your head, mastering your mindset and growing in confidence, then book a free discovery call today and lets chat about I can help you. https://www.stellarimpact.co.uk/appointments

For more mindset techniques or career & interview advice, please follow me at:

LinkedIn -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-quinn-coach/

Instagram -  https://www.instagram.com/stellar.impact/